First live 5G use cases deployed today

2017-09-29

Telia Company is deploying the first public 5G live network use cases in Europe in collaboration with Ericsson and Intel Corporation: a high-speed 5G connection to a commercial passenger cruise ship while in port and a construction excavator remotely controlled with a live 5G network.

Deploying early 5G solutions in real-world settings is vital for the industry to learn how the various technologies integrate into different types of businesses, in what type of environments it performs best, and the interoperability between systems across the network, cloud and devices. Telia Company and Ericsson announced a joint roadmap in 2016 that aims to let Telia customers experience 5G services in 2018 in Tallinn and Stockholm. Now in collaboration with Intel, early examples of these services have been brought to life in these use cases for consumers and businesses.

Gabriela Styf Sjöman, Global Head of Networks at Telia Company says: :“We want to be early with 5G and will bring it to life in Stockholm, Tallinn and Helsinki in 2018. We work together with our partners in the whole eco-system to explore the powerful effect it is going to have for our customers and in society. It’s not only about building a new network but it’s also about building a new way of thinking and perceiving what a mobile network can be and can do. High speed, low latency, guaranteed capacity and truly mobile is going to push the boundaries of digitalisation and we want to be there pushing it together with our partners.”

The “real life” 5G environment for Estonian shipping company Tallink was created at the Port of Tallinn this month to test and explore how the new mobile technology can provide higher data connection speeds and improved quality. During the test, 5G technology was deployed for the whole ship while it was in port. The technology enabled wifi usage for 2,000 passengers and the ship’s own information and communications technology systems. This is a first example of many uses that 5G will provide access to transport situations, as well as very broad gigabit wireless services delivered to consumers.

To highlight the capabilities and opportunities 5G will bring to harsh or dangerous industrial settings, participants at the EU Digital Summit taking place today, September 29, can experience what it feels like to remotely control machinery – in this case an industrial excavator - via an augmented reality remote control operated over an ultrafast live 5G link with very low latency. This shows how a machine operator can work with 5G remote controlled excavators in hazardous environments, from the comfort and safety of an office environment.

The solution stack underpinning the cases in Estonia consists of technologies from Ericsson and Intel. An Ericsson 5G base station consisting of 5G antenna, radio and baseband, in conjuction with the the Intel® 5G Mobile Trial Platform provides millimeter wave and extends Telia’s mobile network to 5G.

Watch videos on both the Tallink and the Excavator 5G solutions, listen to a replay of a joint webcast between Telia, Ericsson and Intel, and access more information about the journey towards 5G here.